"Did we say six games? We meant five games, yeah, that's it, five ... almost like six."
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Multiple sources now reporting that B1G has waived minimum games rule for OSU*
- Thread starter kaTNap
- Start date
Excellent. Not to look ahead past Illinois, but bring dem summabitches on.
It sucks that NU's opponent in the title game will apparently enjoy a bye week.
Everyone we play gets a bye week before we play them. It's like a rule or something.
The “Big 2 / Little 8” was surely better than this “Big One (and Decorative Items)” league we have now.
I thought I saw a quote where Jimbo basically said no way in hell we're doing that.
It is absolutely ludicrous to change the rules to benefit OSU and then also give them a bye week while we play Illinois. How is this any more legitimate than putting IU in the title game since they actually did what was needed per the rules laid out ahead of the season?
If true, this would be the cherry on top of a really shitty first year for Kevin Warren as Big Ten Commissioner. I know the problems he faced were monumental and not of his making, but he handled them very poorly. I don't foresee a long tenure for him.
I think dOSU belongs in the title game, but I think it's bullshit that they get a bye week. Make them play a game.
Couldn‘t agree more. Kellogg undoubtedly has courses on organizational leadership and crisis management. Warren’s stumbles can now be added into course curricula under the “Don‘t do this” sections.
If the rules are going to be changed to suit the conference‘s one fully professional team, then change the rules to allow one OOC game and find them a suitable opponent. Giving them a pass on playing this week is totally unacceptable.
This is an eternal debate that all organizations face from time to time. Are the rules, the rules that you have to always stick by no matter what? Or do you provide your organization with some flexibility to make decisions based on the facts on the ground at the moment. I struggle with this in my work quite often.
So if they changed this rule, what's stopping them from changing it from East vs West to top 2 ranked teams?
This is a one-off year where it makes sense for the rules to be flexible. Ohio State beat Indiana head-to-head and if they played anybody else in the conference and lost the 6th game, they would still win the East. It makes sense that they represent the East.
But giving them a bye is just unfair to NU. Make tOSU play somebody.
Would the Big Ten have done the same if IU was 5-0, had beaten OSU, and had 3 games canceled to get them into the title game? If the answer is yes, then I’m ok with it (although giving OSU a bye while we have to play seems unfair).
Yes. What a joke. Change the rules for OSU *and* let them have a bye week before the championship game.
B1G wants a playoff contender. I can only imagine what the officiating will be like, if the game is close.
Maybe the Big Ten thought that if OSU played Michigan it would have been like a bye anyway, there wasn’t any real change.
I tend to agree, but the conference has now set a precedence where changing the rules to help your powerhouse team advance their playoff aspirations is acceptable. What if in a future year, OSU is in the Top 6 nationally and running away with the East. They just need an impressive win in the conference championship to boost their playoff chances. In the West, NU wins, however, by the end of the season, Wisconsin is the more highly ranked, nationally recognized program. There is now a precedence that says helping one of your conference teams get to the CFP outweighs everything else. Using this argument, the BIG leaders bump NU for Wisconsin as that is in the best interest of the entire conference. Just saying....
If Indiana is unable to play because of heir COVID issues,, and they don't change the rule, we could be looking at an East representative of 3-4 Michigan State or 2-4 Michigan, if I am not mistaken. I think a rule change would be necessary. If Indiana is able to play, then forget OSU.
Caller's to various Sports Radio Shows are blasting the B1G Leadership and Alvarez.
This assumes that the motivation was solely to help OSU get into the playoff (questionable how much it even helps) as opposed to protecting the football integrity of the conference championship game. I don't think the Big Ten was looking forward to having its marquee championship game be mocked by almost everybody in the country.
Also, your hypo has already happened in the past, and the Big Ten had no problem putting Penn State in the championship game and sending Ohio State to the playoff.
You very rarely see this in baseball when it comes to a batting title. The batting title goes to the person who has the batting average and has 3.1 plate appearances/game his team has played (in 162 games, that's 502 PA). In rare circumstances, however, a batting title is awarded to someone who didn't have enough plate appearances, but is close enough that if you give them an 0-fer-whatever-they-have-left-to-get-502 and they're still in the lead, they win. Tony Gwynn won a batting title in 1996 with only 498 PA, for example. The more you know!
My point being, if OSU plays this weekend and loses, or even if they forfeit but officially get the sixth game, they qualify. If they don't play and end up undefeated, they don't. It makes sense in this case that they're still rewarded since they beat Indiana. I don't love that the rules are changed, and I doubt Indiana (or NU, for that matter) would get the same treatment, but it makes sense.
Now, get back to me next week when OSU has a random outbreak and can't play on 12/19.
Perhaps true, but people may have an outsized view of his authority with these types of decisions, particularly during his first year. It’s quite possible that the Presidents and chancellors were far more responsible for the process and the decisions. I’m not saying I know it to be true, but I think it’s quite possible.
It looks like it has to be consensus from all of the schools (based on the reporting about ADs and Presidents/Chancellors), which suggests that, as usual, when a provision no longer makes any sense for anyone involved, the parties can scrap it.
The irony in all this are the gyrations that the B1G is going through in order to be “represented“ in the playoffs. OSU‘s football program is not representative of the rest of the conference and is only nominally part of the B1G. It is a program with an SEC ethos that happens to play in the B1G.
That said, this is much ado about nothing. When the NCAA splits off power 5 football, as is being reported, other B1G programs will join the semi-pro league and the marketplace will diminish OSU’s current advantages.
That said, this is much ado about nothing. When the NCAA splits off power 5 football, as is being reported, other B1G programs will join the semi-pro league and the marketplace will diminish OSU’s current advantages.
Waived the 6 game rule, revised the 21 day hold out rule for covid-19, and they now have a bye week because they have to prepared for the CFP.
This is all a great lesson for the young adults.
"We set these very explicit rules we expect you all to follow LOL JK it's about the money."
"We set these very explicit rules we expect you all to follow LOL JK it's about the money."
Here is what I heard this afternoon on 97.1 The Fan Columbus. First conference will waive the 6 game rule, Second it will reduce the current 21 day hold out for covid-19 since OSU has to play in the CFPs. This essentially give OSU the Big Ten East Title, Any player who tested positive before the Illinois game back (most of their offensive line) and a bye week for the Big Ten Championship game.
Most people on the radio have OSU being 30+ point favorite with the expectation of easily covering
Most people on the radio have OSU being 30+ point favorite with the expectation of easily covering
Yep. Classic move by the conference. Anything to appease Ohio State.
NU’s game vs Illinois should be cancelled in order to give the ‘Cats the same amount of practice prep as the Buckeyes...although I wouldn’t be surprised if Fitz and co started planning for both OSU and Indy during the bye.
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I think this was becoming a major issue here with IU effectively locked down due to COVID. Nobody is really addressing that because it happened after the wheels were in motion to get OSU eligible.
If OSU were ineligible and IU couldn't play next week due to COVID, you'd be looking at NU vs Penn State, Michigan State or Rutgers (in the case of a Rutgers victory over Maryland and an MSU victory over PSU).
Northwestern vs. any of Penn State, Michigan State or Rutgers for a conference championship would be a farce.
To be fair, once they started a season this year that was clear. I honestly thought they’d be afraid of, if nothing else, the optics of having athletes on campus doing their thing while (in some cases) their “regular” classmates were home doing full remote.
Money considerations trumped all that.
Ohio State would appreciate it if you canceled your game with Illinois and let us play them instead.
Undoubtedly, but the job of the commissioner is to provide leadership and counsel about what is in the best interests of the Conference as a whole, not to be the errand boy and get jacked around by some of the most influential schools in the conference. I don’t think this season would have unfolded this way of Delaney was still there. Warren’s inexperience showed big time.
I don’t disagree, but it’s asking a lot of anyone a few months into that job to have the kind of influence and power that Delany amassed over a long tenure. Remember he officially took over in January. I think from the very beginning the onus more properly belongs on the Presidents, including their leader, our own Morty Schapiro. They were perfectly happy to stand back and watch Warren soak up the bullets.
Not happening. We need a week to get our running game in order, and need to put a solid multiple score victory back on tape, so that when we beat Ohio State in a close game, the playoff committee has more to think about.
NU should refuse to play because they have COVID-19 concerns or are worried that Illinois does. Pick one!
